


Lost Aphrodite

by SEULGIVOIR



Category: IZONE (Band), Produce 48 (TV)
Genre: Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), F/F, Korean Characters, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character, POV First Person, Percy Jackson References, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Twelve Gods of Olympus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:49:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29733459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SEULGIVOIR/pseuds/SEULGIVOIR
Summary: Kang Hyewon and Kwon Eunbi's lives have always been odd; they see things no one would believe and get themselves intro trouble they have not caused. They discover these are the monsters walking straight out of their Greek mythology books when a  large Griffin crashes their school and their crippled teacher suddenly becomes a horseman. Apparently, they have been framed for kidnapping Aphrodite's treasured daughter, Jang Wonyoung, and now they have to find her before World War III occurs, all while Hyewon masks her secret crush on her best friend.
Relationships: Kang Hyewon/Kwon Eunbi, Kwon Eunbi/Miyawaki Sakura
Kudos: 12





	1. My Teacher Is Megan Thee Stallion

If you read this book because you think you're a half-blood, I swear to gods, click off this story right now. Sometimes ignorance is bliss; you don't know how much it ruined my life. Just go and click off---don't think about this book or anything you've read from it.

Oh? You don't want to click off despite firmly believing you're a demigod? Well, fuck you and everyone who came before you. You wouldn't want to know about strange teachers suddenly transforming into half-horses, a cishet white stepfather who hated me with all his heart, and a sudden quest that was just shoved in my arms like an abandoned baby. You wouldn't want to know how I ended up in a place where suddenly, everything made sense but was somehow terribly messed up. This shit fucks you up, like it did to me, Kang Hyewon.

I see you're not leaving. Well, fine. Not my fault if a Fury arrives in your home later to steal your dog. Go fuck yourself.

"Wait a minute, Hyewon," you might say, "what are you talking about? What even is a cishet?"

Well, that means you're normal. Not a demigod. You're free to continue reading my story, all a hundred percent fake. But for others who come across this book, everything would be real to them, and they would understand what was happening.

It all started in the bustling cafeteria of my high school. I was fifteen years old, turning sixteen on July 5th. My best friend, Kwon Eunbi, had another insulting note taped to the back of her backpack. Apparently, someone had stolen her lunch---again---and now she sat beside me at one of the benches, head hung in shame as she looked at the empty lunchbox left before her.

"I swear to god, I'm gonna kill Jennie Kim," I swore, turning my head to glare at Jennie, who had been bullying us for what seemed like forever. She winked sassily at me, munching on Eunbi's food.

Fuck her.

Quick heads-up: I used to say god instead of the plural form. You'd know why later on.

"it's okay," Eunbi told me, lifting her head up and smiling at me sadly. She was often dismissive of these kind of stuff. "I'm not hungry."

"Why don't you ever fight back?" I asked angrily, flipping Jennie off before turning back to my best friend. "Whenever I offer, you go 'Oh there's no need! I'm not [this or that]'."

"Just let her be. It's alright."

"What will you eat though?"

Eunbi dismissed it with a wave of her slender hand. "Nothing! I'm fine!" She took her backpack off and set it on her lap, hugging it sullenly. Her brownish-blonde curls hung at the sides of her face.

Eunbi was not from a poor family or an abusive one; don't get me wrong. In fact, she had two loving parents who cared for her so much. But she did not like to burden them by asking for allowance money or making them cook food. She usually cooked her lunch by herself. She took only so little food I had no idea why Jennie would have wanted it.

The sneaky stealing from our archenemy occurred on the daily, resulting in Eunbi almost never eating a proper lunch.

I took the note off her backpack and crumpled it up. I was intending to shoot it at Kim, but I threw it on the ground instead. Eunbi never liked trouble, but somehow, always something happened to the both of us.

In the course of three years of friendship, we had both witnessed things no one believed, even ourselves. No one would believe me when I said there had been a man lurking on the school playground looking for me, and that he only had one eye. It was always considered one of Eunbi's stupid stories when she told everyone about how she suddenly saw the sun form into some kind of chariot, and there was a man who looked a little like her on it. I swore I had been imagining it when the blanket was tugged from our teacher's crippled legs and I suddenly saw horse hind legs though everyone persuaded me that he was a normal human with normal legs.

Not to add that I had been sent to the guidance counselor for not doing well on several spelling tests. When she started to educate me about how I simply was lazy, I called her an old fuck. That ended in me almost getting expelled. Eunbi, on the other hand, was an angel. However, she always seemed to be the only one to see what I saw and testify on my behalf.

I decided to give my angelic friend my lunch. She declined, of course, being the nice bitch that she was, but ended up agreeing after I stared at her for too long. That almost always worked; I wondered why.

"What happened to your hands?" I asked, gesturing to her hands. They were covered by smudged pen ink. I took out my lunchbox and clicked up the lid.

"Irene wrote on them while I was asleep in the library."

"Eunbi."

"Let her be, Hyewon," she chided. She looked at her hands, observing the insults written on them and some cuts caused by the sharp pen. "It's not that bad."

"Do they hurt though?" I asked. They looked so painful, with ink dripping inside one of the wounds. The palms were bright red.

Eunbi paused for a moment, then nodded truthfully. She hung her head again.

"Hey, it's alright," I assured her. I closed the lid onto my lunchbox again and tucked it away in my backpack. "We can go to Mr. Brunner at the clinic. He'll probably give you the magic drink again."

Yes, that magic drink was real. All of what I'm saying's real. Mr. Brunner was the teacher I talked about in a wheelchair, someone I firmly believed was a half-horse because of my odd sight. But unlike all the teachers, he actually believed in us. When we were hurt, he'd take some golden cube he called ambrosia and make us eat it, and we were instantly better after that. When we talked about how it was truly immediately effective, he'd deny it and say it was an illusion. Sometimes he would give us the magic drink he called nectar, which tasted like everything nice. 

Eunbi nodded. She got up with me, whimpering at the sting of the cuts and ink. I gathered both her wrists in one hand and dragged her to the clinic, clutching my bag and hers in another arm. Eunbi tripped on her own feet.

"Y-You know I can just wash my hands firmly---" Eunbi protested, running timidly to avoid letting the short pink gingham skirt required by the school uniform code show the rest of her legs. But I was dragging her like what Twitter stans thought they did to Nicki Minaj, so she was tripping and slipping.

'Cause you was slipping, yep, you clumsy.

Our school was not that big; it was a school which only taught grades seven to twelve so it was not too big. Just one long run from the covered cafeteria, you would reach the clinic where a grumpy nurse who probably did not have real credentials stayed. I did not care if my legs were showing; I just ran.

"Kwangbae! Slow down!" 

No, she was not talking to some boy. Kwangbae was a nickname I adopted through translation errors. I particularly liked that nickname, so I obliged to her pleads and slowed down, panting. I had not realized I was tired.

We had paused at the school garden. Eunbi collapsed on the grass; that reminded me of a rag doll slumping in the least likely places. She was a fragile person, obviously never been exposed to having to run long lengths, so she was always tired. Whenever she was sick, Mr. Brunner gave her the nectar. I wondered if it was some kind of secret medicine he had been making, or a sample he kept from a great scientist.

"Damn, you really are a princess."

Eunbi had plucked some of the roses from a bush when she heard me. She lifted her head up and glared at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're delicate. Pretty. Talented. Show-stopping. Never---"

"I get it! Now stop quoting Lady Gaga and give me a hug."

"No, go suffer."

Eunbi pouted. "Come on, aren't I pretty enough?" She placed the rose in between her lips and tried to make attractive poses, lifting her legs and winking at me clumsily. She ended up falling back on the grass.

I rolled my eyes. She was such a klutz. "Not gonna work. Get up."

"La vie en rose," muttered Eunbi sadly. She handed me the rose and got up, dusting the dirt and grass off her uniform. Her legs were shaky as she got up. She clutched on my arm to gain balance.

"Why did you give me this?"

"'This' what?"

"The rose."

"Because I love you! What else?"

"Touche," I said, noting that answer contentedly. We started walking to the clinic again. 

Now Eunbi dumbass was hungry. It was not her fault that she was though; if Jennie had not stolen her lunch, then she would have had her stomach filled well. She clung to me like glue while I struggled getting us to the clinic.

Fuck Kwon Eunbi for having weak legs, fuck her and everyone.

We entered the clinic after a few minutes. The clinic smelled nice, with the walls painted with flowers and trees. There was a desk as soon as you entered where the nurse usually sat, writing stuff and prescriptions. The shelves containing medicine and pills were placed behind some benches where students usually sat to wait.

"Hurts," Eunbi whimpered, squeezing her own hands. She jumped up and down a little, clinging to my shoulder.

"Mr. Brunner? Mr. Brunner are you here?" I asked loudly. I turned my head to search for the disabled teacher who would usually wheel out from behind the shelves and greet us happily. He was not there. 

That was strange. He was usually the acting nurse. Eunbi and I walked over behind the desk to see if there was a notice taped onto the glass, but there was none.

"Maybe he's on lunch break?" I suggested uncertainly. Mr. Brunner looked like the kind of guy to write poems during lunch breaks, so if that was so, he would stay in the clinic, wouldn't he? 

"Dunno."

"Then I'd have to wash your hands for you then. Go stand by the sink."

Eunbi huffed, stomping on her way to the sink near the restroom. "I'm older than you! Why aren't you nicer to me?"

I ignored the whiny question and switched the faucet on. Water splashed onto the mirror. I dragged Eunbi's hands to the stream of water and pressed my thumbs onto the ink on the milky skin. I could see some of the ink rub off on my own skin, and the color mix with the water. 

"I can do it by my---"

"Shhh."

"Don't tell me to---"

I finally stepped out of my place beside the sink and went behind her. I slipped my hands in front of her and started washing her hands that way. Affection usually made Eunbi shut up, and this act certainly did. She was as unresponsive as your crush.

I reached for the soap on the sink. I swirled it in my hand till it lathered and rubbed it onto the wounds on my best friend's hand. It honestly felt relaxing seeing the ink slowly rub off, like solving a rubix cube successfully without tossing it across the room in a rage. It wasn't nice to see the red cuts however; it angered me to see them.

Eunbi stiffly stood there, watching me wash off the ink. She curiously gazed at her injuries but ended up with water on her face. I laughed silently.

(Also, I turned the water just enough to splash her and make it seem nobody's fault. I haven't told her that, and neither should you).

"Hurts, hurts."

"Don't be a baby, I'm already doing this for you," I told her distractedly. I laid out her palms and rubbed them with soap.

"Why're you so mean to me?"

"I'm not. I'm the most talented, show-stopping, never-seen-before---"

"Hyewon," said Eunbi exhaustedly, looking at me with a plead written in her gaze to stop the references and so as not to bore the readers. "Why're you doing this to me?

"Eunbi," I replied with the same tone, grinning. "You know why? Because I have a big fat les---"

And this was where shit absolutely blew up. This was where my life ended. It could have literally ended too if it weren't for the stupid Fates trying to make my life miserable when it already was. Like come on, let me just burn my sock of life for you. Damn.

Believe me or not, the roof of the clinic was destroyed, and the shelves fell to the ground. I could hear glass crack and see pills roll out from them. I immediately crumpled to the ground, bringing a screaming Eunbi with me too. She sat up and looked around anxiously, wondering what had happened.

"Hyewon! What---"

"SCREEEEEEECHHH!"

No, that was not me. I am not a furry, thank you very much.

Instead, the largest bird I've ever seen in my whole fucking life was flapping its wings and ruining the clinic. I'm not talking about vulture-large or my-dick-large (although it indeed is very big); I was talking about fairy-tale giant large. Those were the largest chicken wings I had ever seen. Its curved eyes looked dangerous as it stared down at us. The said wings were attached to a lion's body, which was a golden shade and talons stuck out from its paws.

What the hell was happening?

"What is that?" screamed Eunbi helplessly. The faucet of the sink had not been switched off, so water freely trickled down into a puddle on the floor. She backed away from it, kicking herself off to the bench, which hit the back of her neck. She groaned, clutching her neck.

"I have no idea, but we gotta get out of here!" I shouted. I grabbed Eunbi's arm and ran for the door, but the large lion-eagle hybrid smashed it flat with its paws. The force from it was as much as a bomb's.

Fuck. This was one of those crazy things that's been happening to me again, wasn't it? Wherein I swear it was a lion-hybrid then they accuse me of trying to damage school property? I had no idea what was happening.

Foolishly, Eunbi scrambled to her knees and threw a bottle of cough drops at the creature. Its attention was now diverted to us and was making its way to kill.

"Eunbi! What were you thinking?" I shouted at her.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed.

As we were yelling at each other, the hybrid was in the midst of preparing to pounce on Eunbi. In horror, I yelled, "Duck!"

"Oh! Where? Where?"

This idiot was my best friend? I couldn't believe I would allow myself to have relations with her. I pulled her away as the hybrid crashed into another set of walls. It screeched in pain; one of its talons had broken off. 

"Eun!" I told her. "Get out now!"

"I don't wanna!"

"Well, fuck you too, Kwon."

Then the thing was flying. Levitating. Ascending. Rising in the air.

Of all things I could have forgotten: seeing Eunbi naked when I walked in her room one day, seeing that horrifying part in a really scary movie, accidentally witnessing Harry and my mom have sex, I had forgotten that this hybrid had wings for days.

"Run!" I shrieked.

Eunbi and I ran through the ruins of our destroyed clinic. She tripped through the rocks.

It was hard to run in skirts whether they may be short or long, but I kept no mind of that as I ran like the wind. I could feel the skirt exposing the shorts I wore underneath and the thigh-high socks. Eunbi was slow, already out of breath after a few runs. The wind whipped her hair to her face.

The whole school would see what was going on. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm going to get expelled for the fifth time. All because of my diagnosed ADHD my hypocritical Catholic school absolutely refused to acknowledge.

Was seeing stuff like this a part of having ADHD? I was sure it wasn't. I might be hallucinating. 

But why did it feel so real when I looked back and saw the hybrid diving in to take a chomp out of us? Why did the crashing of the clinic and flapping of large wings all seemed so real?

There was no possibility I was imagining all these.

I stopped, and waved at the hybrid, flailing my arms at it. "Hey, chicken wings!"

It stopped. It was obviously surprised I had just stopped while it was about to attack, and that i called it a very nice nickname. It perched on the cafeteria roof. Students began to run out and scream.

"You want her, don't you?" I yelled, pointing to my friend and grabbing her by the pink ribbon below her collar and dragging her to the front. Eunbi looked frightened. "See? Pretty girl, isn't she? You want her?"

"Hyewon! What are you doing?" Eunbi asked. Her eyes were wide with horror that I was actually offering her as lunch to a monster.

"I have a plan!"

My mind was working fast. There were several students crowding the place, and one looked a lot like Eunbi: Bae Irene. Bae Irene was freaking out as she was stuck to the bush just beside us. I had also seen a horse run from the school building, so I could just mount it and run from the place. If I could pull Eunbi out from the last second ....

"Come get her, you pile of snot!" I taunted, showing Eunbi's face clearly to the monster. "I bet you can't! Come fly to her, dickhead!"

It all happened as planned. The hybrid dove towards Eunbi, lunging at her with its dangerously sharp talons.

"Hyewon!" cried Eunbi.

Not yet, I told myself. It had to be the last second for the monster. It flew closer and closer till---

I snatched Eunbi from that place. As I had predicted, the monster took off with Irene in its claws, shrieking and panicking. It ascended to the sky without a doubt. Beside me, with her hands tightly gripping my arm, Eunbi was shaking like a leaf.

"Girls!"

"Mr. Brunner?"

Wait.

Oh fuck.

Oh no no no no.

Was Mr. Brunner . . . . a human-horse?

My mind flashed back to the time I had mistaken the blanket usually on my teacher's lap for Eunbi's. When I had taken it off, I saw those two horse legs nobody believed when I told them about it.

Now, the horse I had seen earlier and was preparing to mount was actually my teacher. He had the brown body of a horse, but when it reached up to his upper body, he had human hands and the white shirt he always wore. His face was the normal guise I saw everyday with brown hair and a brown beard.

Eunbi was taken aback. She looked horrified. "W-What---"

"Oh my god," I said, shocked. "It's Megan Thee Stallion."

"I'll explain on the way," Mr. Brunner said to us. "Now get on!"

I helped Eunbi up the back of our teacher. I followed too, my eyes still wishing they were washed thoroughly with bleach. I held onto my friend's hands as Mr. Brunner galloped off school grounds.

And that, my friends, with my teacher being Megan Thee Stallion (though I've always been a Barb) and a large bird (or lion? Honestly, fuck it, nothing's normal anyway) destroying what was left of my school was where it all began.


	2. An Avocado Saves My Life

"What the hell was that?"

Those were the first words I had yelled after my half-horse teacher galloped outside, hooves crashing against the pavement and Eunbi's hair whipping onto my face. I could still hear the commotion as people reacted to my school exploding. I saw adults and kids alike screaming and running around, searching for anyone they found familiar to rescue them.

I had no idea what was happening. First, Irene had drawn on Eunbi's hands and Jennie had stolen her lunch, causing us to have to go to the clinic where Mr. Brunner unusually wasn't present. Then a large creature had come over and almost gotten my friend. This wasn't a normal school day.

Eunbi was too shocked to speak. Maybe, like I was, she was still having trouble processing what happened: I had used her as bait so that large hybrid could leave us alone, and had caused the clinic to explode and everyone inside the school to evacuate. I had just sent her bully off with that lion-bird, and now we were riding our fucking teacher. (Of course, we were still minors so that was illegal, but we were only on his horseback and he had just saved us so that meant something, didn't it?)

"That, Ms. Kang," responded Mr. Brunner, "is a Griffin. They guard only the most precious treasures of this world." 

"Then why would they go after me? You all know I'm good for nothing."

"Hyewon, don't say that!" Eunbi scolded, offended on my behalf. She pinched my arm. When she pinched me, I lost all hopes that this terrible school day was just a dream. "That's not true! You're very---"

"Oh, shut up, Kwon," I snapped at her. I slapped my hand across her mouth to keep her quiet. Eunbi yelped and almost fell off. That's what a chatterfuck deserved. When she began to sulk, I showed her the rose in my pocket and her eyes curved into a smile. She became happy despite having her mouth restricted after that.

La vie en rose.

I still had no idea where we were going. Ambulances and fire trucks were loudly veering towards my ruined school. One fireman looked up and pointed at me, looking stunned. I wondered if I had imagined it.

I turned back to my whore---sorry, I meant horse---teacher, my hands gripping Eunbi's waist. "Is that a new kind of species? Griffiniese or whatever smart people call them?"

"A Griffin is a monster dating back to Ancient Greece. A Griffin would not leave their treasure and attack people unless they have something to do with it."

Then why did it attack me then? I may be a terrible student, but my bucket list did not consist of stealing something from a goddamn monster. Maybe the Griffin got the wrong person.

Eunbi suddenly screeched loudly against my hand, kicking her legs. "Hyewon---"

"Shut it."

"Just this once! Promise!"

I rolled my eyes and brought my hand down from her mouth. Her hands fought to get my arm out of her neck, but I knew that if I let go, this dumbass would roll down from the horseback and get trampled by wheels of vehicles. It was better to restrict her.

"How is it real?" Eunbi shouted over the loud sounds of police cars and ambulances, including the screaming of several schoolchildren. "G-Griffins---the hybrid ones from Greek mythology right?"

"I see you've been doing your Greek studies well, Ms. Kwon!" answered Mr. Brunner proudly. I almost fell off when we veered off to the sidewalk. "Yes! The monster you just saw today is a Griffin, and it is about time I tell you two why it arrived for you!"

"Then why?"

"I shall tell you when we get to camp!"

"But you said---"

"Hold tight!"

Police cars had ended up surrounding us. Armed men were aiming their guns at us, threatening to shoot if necessary. I could see red and blue light flashing around. Apparently, they thought it was our fault ...... again. 

Oh, why was it always me? Half of the time I barely even did anything. It wasn't my fault a large chicken wanted to kidnap my best friend and ruined the school for good. Not everything was necessarily my fault.

I wondered if they saw stuff differently. My mind flashed back to the several times I claimed I witnessed horrifying things and then people told me I was lying: the one-eyed man in the playground and a chariot in the sky. What if---just what if?---they simply didn't see the Griffin either and assumed it was our fault?

I was brought back to earth when Eunbi screamed.

Her eyes were wide with terror as our beloved teacher began to back off down into more police cars, then suddenly take off to the others. My horseman teacher was going to jump on one of them vehicles and break them.

"What are you doing?" I asked in disbelief, clinging on Eunbi for dear fucking life.

"No time, girls!" Mr. Brunner answered. He launched himself onto the windshield and successfully broke it into pieces. I covered Eunbi's eyes. "You will have to go to the last safe place by yourselves! Ms. Kang, please check Ms. Kwon's hands and you'll know where to go!"

Mr. Brunner reached into the pocket of his shirt and threw me a coin the size of a Girl Scout cookie. I did not know what to do with it, but if it was from him, it must be important. I placed it in my bra.

We were thrown off his back and landed in the driver's seat of the police car. The glass laid in a million tiny pieces on the floor, stinging my ankle. Blood stained my sock.

Did our teacher just leave us alone? I hoped both sides of his pillow (or haystack seeing the circumstances) weren't cold tonight. 

The police started shooting. I ducked just in time to see a bullet lodge into the backrest of my seat. 

A gun was shoved into my heart. "Put your hands in the air!" a cop yelled at me. 

I looked into his face. He was a Korean-American in his late thirties who smelled like sweat. It stained his uniform and his leather belt. He glared into my eyes, trying to intimidate me. As much as I wanted to keep my stance like I usually did, I knew it would just make me look like a delinquent, so instead I turned to Eunbi.

Eunbi had her arms raised in the air. She threw a terrified look at me. 

I sighed. I had gotten my best friend into my own trouble again. I had gotten her through that weird Griffin which ruined my school, made her suffer the consequences of my own actions by riding our teacher and getting ourselves into a conflict with the police, and now getting arrested. The best thing I could do was remain obedient.

I was pulled out of the car and shoved to the side of it. My arms were bent backwards as they were cuffed tightly.

"You have the right to remain silent," said the cop to me, still pressing the gun into my back. 

"But I don't have the ability to," I pointed out before I could stop myself.

The cops' harsh words weren't the reason I stopped talking. It was Eunbi's helpless face as she gazed at me from the side of the car, letting out the tiniest of helpless whimpers. It was only then that I realized that not only could my mouth get me in trouble; it could also get the people I loved affected.

*****

Next thing we knew, we were in the back of a police car again, with the cops driving it now. A barrier of metal grills served as a window and a safe place for the cops and myself. Every now and then, the cop who drove the car looked at us at the rearview mirror suspiciously, but mostly minded his own business quite well despite the fact people thought that I had bombed a school.

Eunbi was beside me. Her eyes were firm onto her wrists as she tried to fight her hands out of the tight cuffs. The handcuffs were creating marks on her wrists since they clamped around her skin like teeth. She had stopped making any sound now, but was still visibly shaken.

I don't blame her. I had no idea why our day turned out like this either.

But she was not mad at me. Despite the circumstances, she had her head on my shoulder and a leg thrown above my thigh, tangling itself onto my own. Her eyes were fluttering sleepily since it was only a while after lunch, and the day was particularly sunny. 

"Sorry, homie," I told her, doing my best to pat her hand. It still had a bit of ink on it.

""S'okay. Not your fault. We still have a lot to find out."

Good old Eunbi. It sometimes made me so guilty when she forgave too much, or let things that were clearly not okay happen to her and be excused.

"Water," she requested, licking her lips. "Please."

"Hey, mister," I told the cop in the backseat. He raised his thin eyebrows smugly at me. "Have you got any water?"

"For you, I don't. The Big Bang didn't happen only for two delinquents to beg me for water."

"And when I bring a bomb in here and show you what a real big bang is."

"The girl's got a bomb!"

Wait, I don't have---

Oh!

Yes! Maybe I could trick them by making them think I actually had a bomb with me. After all, they had thought that I had just bombed my school. Who's to say they won't believe me now?

It was evil, but so was I. "Chaotic evil," Eunbi often called me.

I desperately looked around for something that could mask as a bomb. I found an uneaten avocado on the ground, which could pass for a grenade. This could work. I reached down and clutched it in my hand. 

"That's---" Eunbi began.

"A fucking grenade!" I yelled, struggling in my cuffs. I raised both my arms so they could see the avocado. "I could set it off in a few seconds if y'all don't release me!"

The cop, which I had named Bob, shrieked loudly, kicking his legs and flailing his arms. "She's got a bomb!" he wailed, pointing at the fruit in my hand. Wait, was avocado a fruit? Or a vegetbable?

The other cop screeched. The car spun around in circles before crashing into a post. it damaged the car, but not as much to completely fail it. He ran out of the car, abandoning us and his responsibility.

Damn, these were really dumb people. And I was speaking from the point of view of a dumbass. I didn't even think they would believe two teenagers yielding an avocado.

"That's right! A grenade!" Eunbi yelled, trying to make her voice sound assured and confident. "If you don't take these off me right now, she'd set it off and blow up this car!"

"I'm gonna get out!" sobbed Bob, scrambling for the door.

"But you have responsibility for us! The news would think you're a murderer! Now do as I say!"

Wow. I had never underestimated Eunbi's intelligence (she was definitely smarter than me), but that actually sounded pretty logical. Eunbi was part of the school newspaper, so she would be the first to know that the media would look into whatever happened and form a seemingly dramatic story the public would feed on. I could already imagine the headline: "COP ALLEGEDLY KILLS TWO STUDENTS IN FATAL BOMBING".

Bob tearfully took his keys and undid Eunbi's cuffs. There was a clear print of the tight cuffs around them. She snatched the keys from him and undid my restraints. 

"Now get out!" 

Bob stumbled on thin air as he shoved himself out of the vehicle. He collapsed on the side of the car, crying for his mother.

I looked at Eunbi. "What do we do now?"

"Get in the driver's seat. You know how to drive, don't you?"

"No."

"Aww."

Eunbi and I got out of the car. Bob whimpered when we did, curling up at the side. I got into the driver's seat, placing my hands on the steering wheel.

I tried to remember what my stepdad Harry used to do to drive. Maybe that useless old man could have actually taught me something. Let's see.

I looked down and saw that there were three pedals. I stepped on the second pedal, and crashed ourselves even more into the post. Eunbi shrieked.

I guessed that this was the brake pedal. The other two must be the gas pedal, whatever that was, and the accelerator.

Damn, look at Kang Hyewon, driving with no fucking idea of what she's supposed to do. Brava!

"Baby, you might need a seatbelt when I ride this," I told Eunbi, knowing I would crash the car if I kept this up. I reached for her seatbelt and clicked it into place. I lightly pressed on the accelerator as I reversed the car, turning the wheel to where I wanted. The back of the car turned in the direction I was turning the wheel at. 

"'Baby'?" asked Eunbi, raising her eyebrows. She did not look surprised; maybe just taken aback.

"Do you prefer the term 'infant' or 'financial drain'?"

"No. I kind of like it though."

I smirked. I slammed on the accelerator and lurched the car forward. As I did, I rolled my window down to toss the avocado grenade at Bob's head. He screamed and ran away from the explosion that was never going to happen anyway.

*****

"We need disguises."

"Well, excuse me for not being as pretty as you that I need a fucking mask to cover my face."

"Hyewon, that's not what I meant."

"That's not what I meant either."

Eunbi growled, squeezing the coat in her hands as she raked through the racks of clothes. For such tiny hands, she looked so tough while fisting the coat. "You always like pissing me off."

It was nearly nighttime, according to the clock. We had stopped at a closed clothes store and decided we needed new clothes to disguise ourselves. Anyone could identify us by the the pink uniforms we had and my neutral-looking face, so we had decided to try our hands at thievery. Of course, Eunbi did not like the idea, but she also admitted there was no other way she could think of. 

I had picked the lock with Eunbi's hairpin. The clothes store was alright; nothing too fancy, nothing too plain. Hangers hung on bars to showcase clothes ranging from coats to skirts and underwears to bras. The walls were made of brown smooth wood, and so was the floor we walked on. It creaked from time to time.

"We want something plain," I said. I had already selected a white sweater, which I was now wearing, and a pair of jeans. My school uniform was safely tucked inside one of the brown paper bags behind the counter, along with a toothbrush and a cake of soap they also sold. I had also gotten few other articles of clothing. "Nothing that would make people notice us."

"I'm already wearing just a shirt and jeans and you still say it's noticeable."

I sighed. I placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "Look, I'm all for wearing whatever the hell you want, but you don't expect people not to look at your chest with that."

"What do you mean?"

"Big titties, little waist. That's what you are."

"So?" Eunbi asked, still not knowing what the problem was. She scrunched her eyebrows up for a minute thoughtfully, then pouted. "Do I look ugly in this?"

"No," I told her. "It just hugs your figure a lot. Like a lot."

"I feel comfortable in this though."

"Okay."

It sounded dumb at how I'd blame her for attracting attention because she had a nice body. I decided to simply let it off. 

"Do we need a mask?" asked Eunbi. She had gone off to the face mask box, where several blue masks were stacked. On the side of it was also a hanger for custom masks. "To avoid being identified?"

"Yep. Do you always have your hair down?"

"Mhm."

"I think .... " 

I stood behind her and grabbed a handful of hair, combing the strands with my fingers. I reached for a hairtie on the counter and tied it all up in a high ponytail. I went back in front of her and grinned, noticing for the first time that she actually had side bangs that framed a bit of her face.

"You look beautiful."

"Hm, I don't know why you're suddenly not being an asshole," remarked Eunbi, doubtful about the compliment. She lifted herself up so she could sit on the counter. That reminded me of how I had stolen money from the cash drawer (all of it because I had tuition fees to pay for too). "What do we do now?"

Oh, I don't know. Maybe let me bend you over that desk?

Fuck you, Kwon Eunbi.

I didn't even know where we were supposed to go. Mr. Brunner had just abandoned us and almost got us arrested. We only barely made it out by getting gullible cops to believe the avocado that had been left in there by a woman arrested for stealing them was a fucking grenade. before all that, my school had been attacked by a monster that flew out of my Greek mythology books, including the original books where I learned to read Greek.

What even was happening? I didn't even know if all this was real.

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. "I don't know either, Eun," I answered honestly. "Is this even real?"

"Lemme give you a pinch so you know it isn't fake."

"No."

"Yes."

"Consent is sexy, Eunbi," I told her, grabbing her wrists firmly to stop her fingers from giving my cheeks a pinch. "Both for normal stuff and bang bang. Sit down."

Eunbi flailed her wrists. "But---!"

I tightened my grip on her wrists to stop her. As I did, I suddenly spotted a few words on it written in ink that did not completely wash off. It looked like .....

"Stop moving," I ordered. I moved her hand closer to my eyes. "I think this was what Brunner was talking about."

"About what?" Eunbi looked down at her hand. 

Though the rest of the damage on her hands were from Irene's, this handwriting was obviously Mr. Brunner's. In large bold Greek letters, it read:

"TO GET TO THE LAST SAFE PLACE,  
OFFER YOUR WEALTH TO THE SISTERS AND SAY  
STETHI, O HARMA DIABOLES!  
I WILL MEET YOU THERE SOON."


End file.
